Carole Mallory's blog consists of movie and book reviews and commentary on Hollywood. Mallory is an actress who portrayed a Stepford Wife in the original film and appeared in other movies such as Looking for Mr. Goodbar. A former supermodel, her writings are published in The Huffington Post and Hollywood's The Wrap. Her book reviews are published in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Norman Mailer was her mentor. Upon his death she sold her collection of writings with his edits to Harvard University.

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I didn't want to see a rehash of the Men in Blackseries and how wrong I was. MIB3 is another winner. Barry Sonnenfeld has directed this threequil with panache. Never once does he drop the suspense. The curiosity. One bizarre creature after the other assaults you, but each one has a purpose to the screenplay. Special effects triumph. The story is basic and a bit familiar. A time travel saga, again, but Sonnenfeld pulls it off with style and aplomb. Rick Baker's creatures never appear gimmicky, but each has its own special visual kind of terror. This story is unique.

Agents Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) and Jay (Will Smith) are members of a top secret organization that monitors and polices alien activity on Earth. They find themselves in the middle of an intergalactic terrorist plot. In order to prevent worlds from colliding, the MIB must find the terrorist behind this plot and save the Earth.

Time travel is employed to save the Universe and agent J (Will Smith) is our man in Manhattan to do it. Tongue in every cheek. Agent K has been murdered by an alien criminal, Boris the Animal, played by Jermaine Clement with pure terror. He has sockets for eyes, one arm and a voice that sounds like a malfunctioning exhaust. In the opening sequence, Boris escapes from his maximum security prison on the moon intent on murdering Agent K.

Agent J must travel back in time to 1969 to rescue Agent K and the Universe from Boris's diabolical plot (a young Agent J, played with amazing accuracy by Josh Brolin who mimics Tommy Lee Jones' austere yet humorous delivery). There is a space launch at Cape Canaveral and Agent J must place an object on top of the rocket just prior to launch or worlds will collide.

In MIB headquarters when the film begins, we meet a radiant and more beautiful than ever Agent O played with precision by the deft Emma Thompson. When we go back in time to 1969 Agent O becomes the stunning Alice Eve.

What did not work was a scene in The Factory in Manhattan based on Warhol's 1969 establishment with aliens partout. Warhol is poorly portrayed by Bill Hader. But one mediocre scene could not run this movie into oblivion. What did work was the opening scene in a Chinese restaurant with bizarre fish-like monsters which creates a smash-up beginning for this odd, endearing film.

Buckle your seat belt. This is one bumpy, but enjoyable ride and leads right into a sequel. Get ready for MIB4 as soon as writers Lowell Cunningham, the comic genius, and Elan Cohen, David Koepp, Jeff Nathanson and Michael Soccio return to this Universe with their laptops and go to work. Be prepared for another alien invasion. I warned you.

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About Carole Mallory

Carole Mallory is an actress, journalist, professor, and film critic. Her film credits include Stepford Wives and Looking for Mr. Goodbar. As a supermodel she graced the covers of Cosmopolitan, New York, and Newsweek. Besides her novel “Flash,” Mallory has written a memoir of her time with Norman Mailer, Loving Mailer. After the writer's death, she sold her archive of his papers to Harvard. Her journalistic pieces on Vonnegut, Jong, Vidal, Baryshinikov, and Heller have been published in Parade, Esquire, Playboy, Los Angeles Magazine, The Huffington Post, and Hollywood's The Wrap. Her review of Charles Shields' biography of Kurt Vonnegut, And So It Goes, was published in the Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer. She teaches memoir at Cheltenham Adult School and Widener University.
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